Wednesday, January 30, 2008

How to tell a child is growing up...

We say it all the time, "You're such a big boy..." but when is a little one really big? Is it when a child starts to walk, maybe when they learn to go potty. Perhaps it is when they can put on their own clothes. These are all signs that you almost have a "big boy" on your hands but I submit a new criteria...how does the child handle his/her stuffy nose. Apparently one major difference between adults and children is the amount of snot they will let roll down their face. I have been conducting an experiment the last two weeks! At age 7 children do not like stuffy noses, they can blow their nose and can even use a tissue or at least sniff it up with a horrific sound. At 5 they are almost there but every once in awhile they lose their new found "adult" reasoning! Little ones that are 3 and 1 years old have two methods of getting rid of snot. They have developed these methods because they absolutely refuse to let anyone else wipe their nose. The first one is to wipe their nose on you or themselves. This is commonly accomplished by running up and grabbing you will all their strength. The other method is to not bother with it till it hits the mouth and then just try and lick or eat whatever gets there. Of course, they are both nasty and I advise a person experimenting with little boys and stuffy noses to wear darker colors and not very nice clothes! With this new definition we are about half big in our house and half small. However, if you throw in the ability to control your saliva (ie don't spit when you talk) then there is only one big person in the house....ME.